Matteo Brighi

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Matteo Brighi
Personal information
Full name	Matteo Brighi
Date of birth	February 14, 1981 (1981-02-14) (age 27)
Place of birth	Rimini, Italy
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	AS Roma
Number	33
Youth clubs
1997-98	Rimini
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2000 2000-04 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004- 2004-07	Rimini Juventus → Bologna (loan) Parma (co-ownership) → Brescia (loan) AS Roma → Chievo (loan)	44 (8) 11 (0) 32 (0) 21 (1) 29 (1) 15 (1) 89 (9)
National team2
2000-2004 2002	Italy U-21 Italy	35 (2) 1 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 2, 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of August 21, 2002. * Appearances (Goals)

Matteo Brighi (born February 14, 1981 in Rimini) is an Italian football player, currently a midfielder for AS Roma of Italian Serie A. Brighi was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year on 2002.

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Personal life 4 References

[edit] Club career

In 2002, 50% of the rights to Matteo Brighi were sold to A.C. Parma by Juventus F.C. as part of the deal which saw Marco Di Vaio head the other way. The transfer was worth around €5 million at the time. ^[1]

In 2004, Juventus bought back those rights for a reported €11.5 million ^[2] and sold them to Roma as part of the deal for Emerson, worth 16 million Euro.^[3]

However Brighi was then immediately sent on loan to Chievo for three seasons.^[4] He is now back to play with AS Roma.

His playing style can be compared to a teammate of his in Roma, Perrotta, who can play center midfield, whether it's defensive or not, or attacking midfielder (though rarely employed, he did play there for Chievo when they were struggling vs relegation in 2006-2007). A high stamina, high enduring midfielder, he has a good, accurate longshot. He, however, has to compete versus the better and younger Daniele De Rossi and/or David Pizarro/Alberto Aquilani. He is a good tackler and an all-around midfielder, much like Gerrard, but doesn't possess such a good long pass, though he did do a "sombrero" over a Catania player while playing for Chievo in 2006-2007. Showing his abilities there has earning him a bench spot for second place Roma and in Spalletti's mind. He is the first choice substitute if De Rossi is injured. Spalletti said after a 4-4 draw with Napoli that it was the biggest mistake he made in the game was not to let Brighi enter when his team was winning 4-3 because Brighi is able to remove pressure of his defense.

[edit] International career

Brighi's only cap for Italy was when he started the friendly match against Slovenia in 2002, when he was 21.

[edit] Personal life

His younger brother, Marco Brighi, is also a professional footballer.

[edit] References

Preceded by Antonio Cassano

Serie A Young Footballer of the Year 2002

Succeeded by Antonio Cassano

v • d • e A.S. Roma – current squad 1 Curci • 2 Panucci • 3 Cicinho • 4 Juan • 5 Mexès • 7 Pizarro • 8 Aquilani • 9 Vučinić • 10 Totti • 11 Taddei • 13 Andreolli • 14 Giuly • 15 Antunes • 16 De Rossi • 18 Esposito • 20 Perrotta • 21 Ferrari • 22 Tonetto • 25 Zotti • 26 Piţ • 27 Júlio Sérgio • 29 Barusso • 30 Mancini • 32 Doni • 33 Brighi • 77 Cassetti • Coach: Spalletti